Unveiling the Gems of Hulu: Top Movie Picks to Stream This Week

The first network streaming service to win an Emmy, Hulu won an Emmy for Outstanding Drama Series for the dystopian series The Handmaid’s Tale last year, when the future of the television set and the streaming networks essentially became the same. While giants such as Netflix dominate the conversation about original movies, streaming services such as Hulu are incrementally building a rota of cinematic works. Below, a curated guide to some of the best movies currently available to watch on Hulu, which still is more than just a home for TV series: it’s also a cache of actual motion pictures.

Discovering the Must-Watch Movies on Hulu

Breaking Boundaries with Ferrari

Adam Driver becomes an inveterate likeable, wealthy, exciting mess of a human-drama man under the circumstances of personal and financial crisis; and that is Ferrari, the man, in a nutshell. The film performs brilliantly as an introspective study of a mercurial summer of 1957, where the founder of the world-famous car company has been brought to financial ruin. Relying on fine acting to protect it from some of the off-the-line dialogue and wooden passages, we can say that Ferrari (2023) is probably worth our while, in part because of an excellent and career-making performance by Penélope Cruz, and an absorbing story anchored in ambition, loss and the possibility of redemption.

Embracing the Thrill with Perfect Days

This feels like the kind of movie Wim Wenders was born to make: a home invasion thriller and a plot about extraterrestrials built upon each other, with an unexpected depth and an emotional fullness that goes against all odds. At 58 years into his career, Perfect Days shows that Wenders has lost none of his curiosity.

The Coming-of-Age Ritual in Miguel Wants to Fight

In an unusual coming-of-age story, Miguel Wants to Fight follows its 17-year-old title character as he tries to score his first-ever fistfight before he moves out of town. Our high-school experts also star in this comedy, which features a multi-Latino supporting cast. Friendship, transition and identity get articulated through teenage carnage.

A Glimpse into America with Bad Axe

The documentary Bad Axe tells the story of an immigrant family’s growth and struggle for the American Dream. David Siev, the eldest son, has expanded his parents’ restaurant in Bad Axe, Michigan, an as-the-map-tells-us small town, into a mini-empire of 13 restaurants. At least one makes news whenever we say it: Bad Axe is hinting at the paradoxes of place, identity, belonging and the striving to preserve that so many Americans are grappling with, for better or worse, in these days of Covid-19 and rising anti-Asian sentiment.

The Twisted Thriller of Sanctuary

Dark humour and twisted sexual politics define the charged relationship between Hal Porterfield and Rebecca Marin. In Sanctuary, David Duchovny’s taut thriller, viewers are plunged into the pain, drama and power that underlie any lover’s tiff.

Reimagining Royalty in Corsage

At the centre of the film Corsage (2022), Vicky Krieps gives a brilliant performance as the empress Elisabeth of Austria. The film takes the usual recipe of a royal biopic and turns it into a fascinating anatomy of the desires and dilemmas of a woman who defies the prescribed roles. By focusing on this clash of the claustrophobia of power and the imperative of beauty and youth in a rigidly codified world, this beautifully realised film is deeply illuminating.

How Amazon Influences Our Viewing Choices

The company is now a key entertainment discovery point for millions, in part because watching films at home via Amazon Prime is far more convenient then going to see them in the cinema. While viewers can go to Hulu to seek out the best movies, it’s worth noting that Amazon, too, offers an on-demand library of films and TV shows, which you can buy or rent, and which are not available to stream.

The Journey Continues

Hulu constantly is updating its library, streaming original and acquired stories with clout and purpose. As platforms expand and new titles premiere, Hulu is a place where film buffs can go to get their fix. Is it a period piece? Is it an action flick? Is it a documentary? Does it have the dramatic heft of a Tom Hanks portraying Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Charlie ‘Chip’ Gregson? Does it boast the star and director power of Ryan Reynolds and Taika Waititi? Does it tap into nostalgia like a Toy Story story? Does it pull on your heartstrings with a tale of an aging bulldog and his little boy? You can find it all and more on Hulu.

And Amazon still holds a place in the digital viewing experience as a catch-all to fill gaps in content and accessibility. To paraphrase Hall, Hulu and Amazon are ‘doing what we’ve always done – but now in the streaming world’. This is the current state of streaming – content is a tapestry of stories and entertainment, haunted by the transition to digital electric media and controlled by the alluring, ever-available push of the play button.